Schools chief pushes math, other reforms

San Diego  San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Bill Kowba rallied principals back to school on Tuesday, encouraging them to foster community-based reforms at their campuses.

Hundreds of principals, vice principals and others filled the Kearny High School auditorium to hear from Kowba and meet his new team of “area superintendents,” administrators who have been assigned to work with clusters of elementary, middle and high schools.

Kowba was promoted to full-time superintendent in June, succeeding a long line of district leaders who pushed their own brands of reform. However, Kowba was hired to promote the school board’s community-based reform model that promises to give parents and teachers authority to collaborate with principals in designing education programs that cater to their students.

The district’s new “Vision 2020 for Student Success” calls for heavy doses of collaboration, plans to evaluate every student via customized contracts that dictate academic progress and interventions, and a broad curriculum that promotes critical-thinking skills and technology. But the district has yet to reveal the details of its Vision 2020.

“This was the preview. I’d like to see what’s next,” said Jeannie Steeg, executive director of the San Diego Administrators Association. “I think there is support among principals. But there are concerns that if we go too far with parent collaboration, the decisions made by the principal may not be as valid and strong as they have been.”